Kessil

Share Your Thoughts on Mixed LPS - SPS Tank

MolaMola

MolaMola

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My first tank long ago was mostly LPS and softies with PC lighting. Reefkeeping has come a long way since then and now I have a new tank with LED lighting. My big question is if people think we can really keep both LPS and SPS corals in the same conditions and have everything thrive, not just in constant battle of water conditions, food requirements, chemical interactions. If so, how can this be done?
 
I think it all depends on the corals. I've got a huge chalice (not a stick but still stony) and it completely wiped out my birdsnest in what I thought was a small battle.

But I guess I've never really had a lot of luck with sps in general so it could just be me. Lol.

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Definitely possible. Choose corals that do well in your tank. There wil be Los and sps that fit the bill more or less whatever your setup is like. They both like stability, and good random flow that isn't too strong on any individual coral...
 
Absolutely possible, but maybe not too practical. Especially if you can't put your all into the tank. Not really any issues of chemical interactions between corals though, mostly it's a matter if you being able to be a bit more sloppy with LPS than SPS.
 
My opinion: You can do almost anything given enough effort.
But is it worth it?

How:

1) Regular large water changes.
Fairly obvious. Became a real hassle with my larger tank though.
Once I started skimping and using other technology, things never were the same.

2) Carbon.
Key for eliminating chemical interactions.
What worked well was 4 mesh bags, changing 1 every week.
Look at Carbon adsorption curves!
Reactors were always a pain.

3) Low fish bio-load
This made the biggest difference after water changes.
Especially avoid large carnivores.

4) No giant LPS
This was an interesting one. As soon as LPS really expanded, like a wall of hammer, it
seems that it becomes really powerful, and everything else starts to suffer.
But anecdotal. Might be coincidence.

5) Mix a few LPS in an SPS tank, not a few SPS on an LPS tank.
It seems that once the balance shifts toward LPS, the SPS really suffer,
but not the other way around as much.

6) Proper feeding
It is difficult to feed all the different types properly.
 
I appreciate everyone's comments. I need to think about this. Mainly I need to get started and since LPS are my favorite corals and I want an interesting variety with motion in the tank for students to see, LPS will be the focus.
My husband and I were also discussing whether there is a known LPS:SPS success ratio based on feeding. So, I would want to feed the corals well and provide what different types need, but ideally the corals as a whole would consume all of the food I provide and prevent excess nutrient buildup. Wondering if we know what that ratio would be in the tank.
 
rygh - I was thinking the same about most of your points, though more like trying to deny them. Thanks for the specifics
 
I think its totally possible, but you will never have both groups thriving. You might have one thriving but the other hanging on, but not both unless you put a lot of work into creating the appropriate light intensitys for each coral.

SPS is a broad category and in my opinion it encompasses, acropora, birdnests, montipora, stylophora, pocillopora, hmmm what else is generally accepted as sps?

Anyways, it's totally do-able but there are limitations. Some SPS corals require more light intensities than other SPS, than other LPS. When you adjust your light intensities to sustain a high-light requiring coral, the corals on the same horizontal plane, should also be able to tolerate that light level.

I think the biggest issue you could run into is differing light requirements, once you address tank stability and flow requirements.

Can certain LPS/Softies survive at the same light intensities as some SPS corals and vice versa? You might end up with brown acropora and nice LPS or nice acropora/montipora and slightly bleached LPS.

All this being said, there are some bullet proof SPS corals that can tolerate instability/lower light. Birdsnests, some montiporas, green slimer acropora, tricolor acropora, etc.

The best answer....try it out. Experiment. Move corals up and down if they're not getting enough light.
 
How does this occurr in nature? Do LPS and SPS just not propagate near each other because the prefer different environmental factors?
 
Not too sure. Most hobbyists dont really know where corals naturally occur within the reefs (shallow, relatively shallow, tidal, lagoon, deepwater reefs, etc) before they hit the local fish stores.

Some of know where they come from, e.g, australia, indonesia, bali, etc but most hobbyists dont know where they exist exactly on the reef.

Even I havent bothered looking into that aspect. I just copy what other hobbyists are doing to make their corals happy.

Most of us keep corals from all around the world, let alone different locations within a reef. I have corals from vietnam, caribbeans, japan australia indonesia all living in the same glass box.

The aquarium environment is different. Our artificial light fixtures are still pretty different from that fireball in the sky we call the sun.

You can try to copy nature but its pretty hard.

Ive heard that acropora are by far the FASTEST growing corals in the wild. Their growth builds the reefs of which other corals grow on. But how fast do acropora grow in our aquariums? Only so so.
 
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Plenty of Lps like lots of light and the same alk ca mg salinity temp as sps. Not that hard to keep both happy. Target Feed Lps meaty stuffmaybe once a week, And I don't bother feeding sps personally.
Maybe interrogate @Geneva about her tank and methods. She keeps everything happy and growing well with good color.
 
I'm also trying for a mixed reef, and @Enderturtle's list
Birdsnests, some montiporas, green slimer acropora, tricolor acropora, etc
Click to expand...
is basically a list of my SPS ;)

My tank is loosely arranged in two sides. SPS side has taller rockwork and much higher flow, while the LPS/anemone side is flatter with less direct flow. I hope to know how well it's working in a couple of months...
 
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